


You Broke It

by soldiermom1973



Series: Sunday Sprints [1]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: 15 minutes, Eden Prime, Gen, General Friendship - Freeform, Headaches, MEFFW Sunday Sprint, Mass Effect 1, Prothean Beacon, Sunday Sprint, You Broke It, drinking coffee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 00:04:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17570495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soldiermom1973/pseuds/soldiermom1973
Summary: For the MEFFW Sunday Sprint prompt You Broke It for 01/27/19Just some conversation between a generic John Shepard & Kaidan Alenko.  Post Eden Prime, but before they get back to the Citadel.This hasn't been edited (save for some glaring spelling errors).  IMO, fixing grammar, syntax, etc. takes away from it being a sprint.  All errors are mine & I won't be fixing them.  Also, this is intended to be a stand alone drabble.





	You Broke It

**Author's Note:**

> For the MEFFW Sunday Sprint prompt You Broke It for 01/27/19
> 
> Just some conversation between a generic John Shepard & Kaidan Alenko. Post Eden Prime, but before they get back to the Citadel.
> 
> This hasn't been edited (save for some glaring spelling errors). IMO, fixing grammar, syntax, etc. takes away from it being a sprint. All errors are mine & I won't be fixing them. Also, this is intended to be a stand alone drabble.

Shepard preferred the ship when it was on the night cycle. No one was clamoring after him for his attention to whatever mundane paperwork needed his approval. He wondered how Anderson did it – the man ran the ship like a finely tuned instrument, making sure every I was dotted and T was crossed. Supplies were always readily available, paperwork complete and on time, and his people were happy. As the XO, Shepard knew that he was the buffer between the crew and the captain and therefore the reason Anderson had the option of getting to bed at a reasonable hour.

John didn't mind, though. He bled Alliance blue and would do everything he could to make sure that the rest of the shakedown run didn't get any worse.

He sighed and dragged a hand down his face, wishing the coffee would brew a little quicker. He grunted a bit and rubbed the back of his neck, silently cursing the headache that just started brewing. Up until a few hours ago, John Shepard never had a headache in his life. Now that he'd come into contact with that Prothean beacon and had those nonsensical visions cluttering his head, he wondered if this nagging pain behind his eyes was going to be his new normal.

“Fuck, I hope not,” he muttered, pouring coffee into his mug.

“Hope not what?”

John whipped around at the soft voice behind him, coffee sloshing over the rim of his mug and onto his uniform.

“Christ, Lieutenant, you scared the shit out of me!” John set the mug down and shook his hand, flicking drops of coffee onto the floor, then brushing off his shirt.

“Sorry, sir.” Kaidan reached for a paper towel and offered it to the commander. “I didn't mean to startle you.”

“It's all good, LT. You can't sleep?”

Kaidan shook his head and reached for his own mug. John stepped aside and allowed the other man access to the coffee pot. “I've got a migraine brewing.”

“Ah. Sorry. Did you see Chakwas?”

Kaidan shook his head and blew across his mug, trying to cool the brew down a bit. “I could, but she needs to sleep. How about you?”

“I've got a nagging ache here.” John pressed his fingers to his temples and winced. “I've had it ever since Eden Prime and the beacon.”

“I'm not surprised, considering you broke it.”

“Say again?” John couldn't help the smile spreading across his face.

“The beacon. You broke it,” Kaidan shrugged.

“LT, I managed to blow the damn thing up, not just break it,” John laughed.

“I was trying to be nice,” Kaidan chuckled. “Saying you broke it is a lot better than saying it blew up. Makes the damage seem, I don't know, not as bad.”

The pair laughed for a few minutes before turning their attention back to their coffee cups. “Your headache,” Kaidan finally said, “if you need any help with it, let me know. I can show you some meditative postures, breathing techniques...”

“Thanks,” John interrupted, “but I think I'll be ok.”

Kaidan hummed a response and quirked an eyebrow at the commander, as if to say he didn't believe him but he wasn't going to press the issue. “And you didn't answer my question.”

“What was that?”

“When I came around the corner, you said, “I hope not”.”

“Ah, well, the headache. I just hope it isn't going to be a permanent thing. I've never had them before and I don't think I quite like them.” John inhaled like he was going to say more, but then caught himself, remembering that Kaidan's migraines were his normal. He suddenly felt like an ass for making light of Kaidan's own pain. “Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean...”

“Don't worry about it,” Kaidan brushed him off, shifting his stance so one arm was crossed over his stomach. “Headaches are normal for me. I'm so used to them that I don't think I'd know what to do if I ever had a truly pain-free day.”


End file.
